Unknown Eyes
by Sapphire Wych
Summary: Post HG but pre CF. The first kiss between Gale and Katniss and what Katniss thinks. Based on her POV. Short but sweet. Disclaimer: I don't own HG or CF. Suzanne Collins does and she is so lucky because of it.
1. Admission

**This is my first fanfiction story. I love to write though, so it won`t be my last.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Hunger Games or any of the characters in this story. Suzanne Collins does.**

**Sapphire Wych**

Katniss POV

These last view weeks have passed agonizingly slow. Peeta and I have won the dreaded Hunger Games and we're back in District Twelve, but we haven't had time. The District and Capitol have been throwing parties, celebrations. There've been cameras, attention, on Peeta and I. That's not really my thing. And still, when they left, the people in District 12 payed us too much attention, especially to the false romance between Peeta and I.

Finally, things have cooled down enough and I'm able to slip out of our extravagant new house. I creep through the empty, coal dust streets, winding through the cool dewy morning. Eventually, I get to the fence. The fence seperating District 12 from the forest. My forest. Gale's forest. My father's forest. I wiggle underneath a lose section of metal and head to the hill where Gale and I talked about running away, the morning of the reaping where I sacrificed my freedom for Prim and was thrown into the Games.

Autumn has begun and the leaves on the few trees that aren't pines have begun to burst with beautiful colours. It's an amazing walk and when I get to the hill, I climb it, sit down and prepare a breakfast for Gale and I. Chicken, some fancy cheese, real bakery bread, and fresh oranges, which, before the games, I'd only tasted once. I settle back to wait for him to arrive.

The wait is longer than usual and I'm beginning to worry that he's forgotten about me, or stopped caring but I have my eyes fixed upon a blade of grass and when I look up, he's there. Like a ghost. Just watching me. All of a sudden, the weight of the Games, of missing Gale and my family, of almost losing Peeta and my life as well, catches up to me and I launch myself forward, desperate for comfort and the protection of Gale's arms. I'm laughing and sobbing, choking on tears and laughs but Gale holds me to him, rubbing his hand on my back and occasionally brushing my braid. He holds me tight and I can't even see his face, that's how close I am to him.

Eventually, I get a thunderously loud case of hiccups and he releases me, tears shimmering in his own eyes. He hands me a flask of warm tea and I drink it gratefully. The awful hiccup spasms subside and Gale and I eat. The rest of the afternoon passes normally and I think that things will return to normal, if not between my family and I, or Peeta and I, but between Gale and I.

With the beginning of dusk, we head back to an opening in the fence, closest to Gale's house. I give him all the game, because I no longer need it but decline an offer to visit the Hob. What he does next takes me completely by surprise. He takes my face, gently in his rough hands and presses his lips gently to mine. Slowly, he's more forceful and I respond to him in a way I never have before. My hands curl into fists around the fabric of his shirt and I pull him to me. Finally, we pull away, both out of breath. He kisses me lightly on the lips once more and disappears through the hole in the fence.

Instead of following him, I sit against the trunk of a nearby tree and try to sort through my thoughts. I come to one conclusion. I want him. as more than a friend. I'm going to go live on Panem and tell them that Peeta and I only want to be friends. That I pulled the berries out of desperation to get home to Gale and to save Peeta from pain. The sun is about to sink off of our edge of the earth when Gale walks by the fence, on the way to his house from the Hob. He spots me.

"Katniss? Are you okay?" His tone is alarmed as he crawls back through the fence.

"I'm fine. I was just thinking." He sits next to me.

"About what?"

"I love you Gale." He's surprised, then all of a sudden, ecstatic. He stands up off the ground and picks me up with him, swinging me around. I lock my arms around him and he puts me down, tilting his forehead against mine.

"I love you too." He kisses me again and we stay in the forest, later than usual. Finally, we go our seperate ways, but it won't be like that for long. I'll see Gale tomorrow, and the day after that and every day after that. We'll be together forever. I see movement off to my right, but pay no attention it. Then, I'm home, bubbling with happiness.

**Tell me what you think. Comment and give me tips. And, the story just continues normally.**

**Sapphire Wych**

**P.S. I absolutely LOVE Gale Hawthorne!**


	2. Forbidden Love

I find Haymitch asleep on the floor in a puddle of liquor and congealed stew. He's laying right in front of a dead fire, almost buried with garbage, mostly hidden by view. The only thing that stops me from stepping on him is the open and close of his loudly snoring mouth.

I lean over and pull garbage off of his pudgy gut, wrinkling my nose and gagging silently at the awful stench. _I need to get Haymitch a housekeeper,_ I think, vehemently.

He's clutching a knife in his wasted fingers and I pry it out of his grasp. When he wakes up, he'll come up swinging and I don't want to be slashed.

I push his shoulder, trying a Peeta approach first. He grunts but doesn't wake up. I push harder.

"Haymitch! Haymitch get up!" He grunts again and rolls over. I have to giggle when his grimy thumb slides into his mouth. I can use this against him later. Haymitch still snores loudly and I realize that today, acting like Peeta to wake him, won't work. I pinch the flabby skin on his upper arm between my thumb and index finger, and twist.

"Yow!" Haymitch screeches, jumping up and slashing at the air with the knife that isn't there. He seems to realize this about ten seconds after he throws himself off balance.

"Where'd my knife go?" I dangle it in front of him.

"Looking for this?" He grabs for it but I yank it back. It's probably best to keep it away from him while I propose my plan.

"Give that back."

"No. Sit down first. I have to talk to you."

"No, you're mother can't borrow my liquor for medicine."

"Not that. Besides, she paid you back didn't she?" Haymitch just grunts and pulls out a chair. It tips, one of the legs being shorter than the rest and he goes sprawling. I hear him muttering obscenities under his breath as he perches on the chair again, more carefully.

"What?" His surly voice almost makes me laugh. Almost. But if I do, he'll never give me what I want.

"I love Gale."

"Well you should love your cousin, shouldn't yeh?"

"You know he's not my cousin! And I love him! Like, _in love_ with him."

"Sweetheart, what do you want me to do about that? Give him permission to marry you?"

"I want you to organize an interview with Caesar for me. I want to go live on television and tell them I pulled out the berries to save Peeta from being hurt and to get back to Gale."

"No."

"Why not?" My voice has turned whiny.

"Because then they would know you were lying about being in love with Peeta and no one would believe that you wanted to save him from pain. Instead, they would think that you did pull those berries out to start a rebellion."

"But I didn't!" I'm shocked that my voice sounds like I'm about two years old.

"I know that. Peeta knows that. Gale if you decided to tell him. But no one else does. They'll still think. So, as far as I'm concerned and the cameras are concerned and the Capitol's concerned, as far as anyone's concerned, you're in love with Peeta."

"But I'm not."

"Just do what you've been doing so far. Pretending."

"But I don't want to pretend anymore. I don't think I can stand another kiss with Peeta!"

"Deal with it. Do you want to why, sweetheart? Huh? Because if the Capitol thinks you're trying to start a rebellion they won't hurt you! Even if they arranged an accident, no one would believe it. So, they'd hurt your mother. Prim. Gale. Everyone you love and have ever loved and you'll have no one except me and Peeta left." I shudder at the thought but keep pressing on, confident that my plan will work.

"Well what can I do?"

"Ignore Gale. Tell him you don't love him. Your love is forbidden. If you must, make out with him in the woods, as long as you're sure no one's watching. Keep it a secret."

"Well, would you do it if I told you a secret I know about you?" I'm using my reserved blackmail. Haymitch smirks.

"You don't know anything about me, sweetheart."

"Oh, really? I know you sleep while sucking your thumb." Haymitch's jaw drops. He doesn't say anything though. In an instant, he's on top of me, knocking me from the chair. My head hits a corner of the table and my vision swims. It doesn't help that Haymitch has his hands pressed into my throat, effectively cutting off my air supply. I try to pry his fingers off of me but even though he's a drunk wreck, he's surprisingly strong. But surely he doesn't mean to kill me. Does he?

The edges of my eyes are blackening and I know that I'm going to pass out, defenceless against him. All of a sudden, his tremendous weight is lifted off of me. I don't know how. Maybe my choked pleading finally reached him and he stood up. Maybe he passed out from the alcohol in his system. Right now, I just concentrate on breathing. Slowly, my vision returns, slightly hazy but I can tell what is going on. Gale has come to my rescue, after getting off of work and right now he's fighting with Haymitch. The fight doesn't last long. One good punch to the jaw and Haymitch is sent sprawling back. Gale hurries over to me, his hand on my back, supporting me. He doesn't try to pull me up yet.

"Are you okay, Catnip?" I try to speak but breathing is still difficult and I can't. "Just breath. Concentrate on breathing." He kisses me then, making it very hard to breathe, but I don't mind. We pull away, both gasping. I get my breath back first.

"The forest. We need to talk." He nods, alarmed by my intensity but helps me up. We hurry through the darkened, empty streets and crawl under the fence. I don't stop until we reach our place. Gale kisses me again when we sit down and I can't concentrate properly. Haymitch's idea to make out in the woods seems to be getting better and better. Finally, I break off.

"We have to talk." Gale kisses me lightly again.

"Talk is overrated." I let him kiss me for the next few minutes but then organize my thoughts and pull away.

"No, really. We have to talk Gale." He nods, suddenly serious although he plants another kiss on my cheek.

"Haymitch says that they'll hurt you and my mom and Prim if we go public with our love." Gale just nods, not the least bit surprised.

"I kind of figured that. I know you and _Peeta_." he hisses the name, "have to pretend to still be together. But we still have the woods. The one place Peeta doesn't have with you." I nod but realize that this is still a bad idea. The more I'm kissing Gale, the more I don't want to be with Peeta.

"No. I'm sorry. I love you and I need you to know that but I can't pretend to be with Peeta if I want you more." Gale understands.

"Today only?" I want to turn his offer down but I can't resist. I'm really not sure I'll be able to resist on Sunday when we have the whole day to hunt together. I just nod, though, not thinking too much about Sunday. He's on me in a second, pressing his warm lips to mine. I smile against him and his lips curve with mine.

Right now, I couldn't care less about Sunday. I'm living in the moment. With Gale.

"I love you," I murmur.

"I love you too," he murmurs back. He pulls me in for another kiss.

**The end. R&R please. Did you love it? Hate it? I take criticism really well, so trust me, I can handle it. Oh, and Catching Fire continues normally. Gale pretends the kiss never happened and Katniss still pretends to love Peeta ( :( )blah, blah, blah. Thanks.**

**Sapphire Wych**

**P.S. Galeniss forever!**


End file.
